A Chance
by FNPCapt KC
Summary: Marlene's getting a new room mate. Only this time he's an otter and a guy. Skipper knows the new otter will steal Marlene's heart. But when he tries to tell her his feelings, an accident happens. Written in Skipper's POV for the first 2 chapters.
1. Marlene's News

Footsteps grew louder and louder as their owner came closer to our door. I knew immediately who they belonged to. My heart skipped a beat. But I couldn't let my team see. I didn't want them to think I was soft. Plus, they thought I disaproved of dating and crushes. I wasn't going to look like some sort of hypocrite. I heard our door open and I spun around to see who it was. Not that I already knew. Sure enough, a chesnut colored otter stood in our door way, looking cute, naive, and well... cute.

"Hey, guys!" Marlene said.

"Marlene!" I replied. "What did I say about showing up here unannounced?" I pretended to be annoyed by her bargaing in, but secretly, I loved it.

"Says the guy who refuses to knock," she teased. "Anyways, I found out from the chimps that I'm getting a new room mate!"

"New room mate?! We can't have that! Remeber the last time! That walrus stole Kowalski's invention and gave our secrets to Blowhole!"

"Well, not this time!" she continued. "The chimps said he is an otter. And he's not here to spy. He and I are apperantly signed up for the zoo's breeding program,"

"WHAT?!" I screamed. Marlene didn't seem to hear me.

"I wonder if he play's the Spainish guitar? Is he cute? Will he love me? What if I'm not pretty enough! What if he thinks I'm stupid?!" I wanted to tell her she wasn't stupid. Just a little naive. And of course she was pretty. Prettiest otter I ever met.

"Marlene. Can you please get out for a sec? I need to think!" I grumbled.

"Uh...okay?" she said awkwardly before leaving. As soon as she was out of earshot, I looked at my team.

"THIS IS BAD! TERIBBLE, AWFUL, WORSE CASE SENARIO TIMES FIVE!" I screamed,waving flippers around frantically. My team looked at me in confussion.

"Uhh...why?" asked Private. I face-flippered myself before slapping him. I hope he only realized I only did that because I cared and wanted him to learn about the dangers of the world.

"I must agree with Private, Skipper. Why is Marlene's room mate a threat?" Kowalski asked.

"Because. He could, um, be Danish, or ,um, work for Blowhole?" I tried. They didn't look convinced.

"Skipper, we defeated Blowhole, remember? And we could always ask the chimps where he's being transferred from," the scientist answered.

I wanted to tell them the real reason. I didn't think he was a spy. Otters are known for being naive and neutral in most cases. The real reason was that I was afraid of losing Marlene.


	2. STUPID TACO TRUCK!

**Hey guys! Thank you for reviewing! This chapter may be a bit chessy. Sorry if it is!**

Marlene came by again, around 2000 hours.

"Hey, guys!"

"Hi, Marlene!" Private pipped up.

"You remember the "Little Foot" incident?"

"Yup!" Rico replied.

"Well, since then, I've been thinking about seeing the rest of New York. You know, like the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, etc. And I was wondering if you guys could take me?" she gave me a puppy dog face.

"Well...maybe...Oh, fine. We can go,"

"Thank you!" she yelled excitedly, and gave me a hug. I wanted it to last longer than it did, but of course it only lasted 3 seconds.

*10 minutes later*

We walked in the zoo storage area, towards our pink car.

"Private. You can get shotgun, this time." I told the boy.

"Really, Skippah? You never let me get shotgun," I glared at him until he got into the car. I got in the back, next to Marlene. Kowalski sat on her other side and Rico got in the driver's seat. He started the engine and stomped on the gas petal.

"Rico, music," I commanded.

"Huh, I thought you didn't like music," Marlene stated.

"I love music! I just don't like it when Julien plays it non-stop all night long,"

_We are Young_ started playing as we drove threw Times Square. I couldn't help singing along.

"Wow! Didn't know you could sing, ethier! You like this song?" Marlene asked.

"Love," I corrected. She joined in. I put my arm around her. She looked at me, suprised, but quickly changed that look and gazed into each others eyes and I found myself lost in her's while singing the last few verses.

. Suddenly,_ Sexy and I Know It _started blasting threw the radios, ruining the moment. Especially, when Rico started singing along. And let's just say, he probaly won't win American Idol. We all started laughing.

"Hey, Rico! Why don't we pull over and get some snow cones?" I asked. Rico stopped singing and nodded. He stopped by a vendor in Times Square, knocked him out, and we raided the stand. Marlene and I talked while we licked our cones.

"Thank you so much, Skipper! This was awesome! It almost made me forget about my new room mate...oh dear..." she started worrying all over again.

"Marlene! Calm down. If he doesn't like you then he's missing out! You're the most beatiful, bubbly, kind, caring, adorable otter I ever met. And if he can't see that, well, he's blind!"

"Really?" she questioned. Clearly enjoying my compliments. I didn't even mean to say that! UGH! Well, it's too late for that, now. Maybe I should just tell her. No, that'll be to risky. But then, again, I'm no chicken! I take risks all the time! Why not add another one to the list?

"Marlene, I need to tell you something," I started. Am I really doing this? Yes. No backing out now!

"Yes?" she asked with intrest.

"Marlene, I-I..."

"You what?"

"I-I... lo-" Suddenly, I noticed a taco truck comming out of nowhere. I also noticed Marlene was standing in the middle of the road.

"LOOK OUT!" I screamed and shoved her out of the truck's path, just in time, for her at least.

_WHAAMM!_


	3. Broken

Everything hurt... S-so bad... I-I couldn't take it... Marlene rushed over to my side.

"SKIPPER!" she screamed. I heard a few of my men's voices, then blacked out.

I woke up again for a few seconds, on a stretcher Rico must've coughed up. Marlene noticed I was awake.

"Don't worry, Skipper! You're gonna be okay!" she said, trying to sound calm, but I could tell she was scared.

"Marlene..." I started. I was in a whole world of pain, but I had to try it again. This time, I had no taco trucks to interupt me.

"I-I love you..." I whispered that last part, before blacking out again.

*Marlene's POV*

I love you... I love you...

Skipper's whispered words rang through my mind. He loves really, truely loves me. I guess that's why he was mad earlier today when I told him about the room mate. I didn't even care about the new otter anymore. No way was I going to fall for him! I didn't even want him to date to begin with. I just hoped it would work so it would keep my mind off my other love. Oh Skipper, why did I have to be so stupid? Why did I have to stand in the middle of the road? It should've been me. Not him. I looked at the unconcious penguin. He was losing some blood. Not to mention alot of his bones were broken pretty badly. He saved me. He shoved me out of the way so I wouldn't have gotten killed. Because of me, he might...NO! He was not going to die! We just need to get him to the zoo ASAP!

"Come on,. you guys! Let's run!" Me and Private sprinted along side Kowalski and Rico, who held the stretcher. We arrived at the zoo five minutes later. We put the stretcher down gently outside of the animal hospital. We knocked on the door and ran away. The guys decided to go back to the HQ. I decided to stay, but remain hidden. I wanted to find out what was going to happen to , the door opened.

"Hello? Who's- OMIGOSH!" the doctor gasped when he saw Skipper. "What happened to you? How did you get here? Why am I talking to a penguin that's not even concious?!" He quickly brought Skipper in. Unforchanetly, I couldn't go inside the hospital. I would get caught as soon as I would walk in. So, I went back to my habitat.

I hated the feeling. Guilt. Anger. Sadness. Loneliness. It all washed over me, like a wave. I mean, it was my fault. If only I had been paying attention to where I was going this wouldn't have happened. UGH! I so stupid to make a careless mistake like that! And now the best friend I ever had could be dying this very moment. And-

"Helloo, silly otter!" The ring-tailed lemur entered my cave.

"What do you want, Julien?"

"Uh, it's _King_ Julien,"

"Whatever,"

"I just wanted to know what happened to de bossy penguin. I askded the other penguins, but they just kicked me out! And NOBODY kicks de king out! NO! BODY!"

"He's, he's hurt. Bad. And h-he might...die...Now, _please_ leave. I kinda just want to be alone right now,"

**Sorry it's short. It was longer, but the ending part didn't really fit, so I had to cut it out. So, Skipper finally got to tell Marlene his feelings. But does Mar love him back? Well...this IS a Skilene fic. Will Skipper survive? Maybe... I haven't finished the entire thing, so...yeah. Anyways, thank you for the nice reviews! You guys rock!**


	4. Dreams

The next morning, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to see Skipper before the zoo opens. It was still dark. Around 4 AM. I ran over to the zoo's hospital. Thankfully, the door was unlocked. I walked to the emergency part of the hospital. There I saw bed, surrounded by curtain walls. I ripped the curtain's apart. Skipper was lying on the bed. A heart monitor, an oxygen mask, and a few IVs were hooked up to him. I jumped on top of the bed, careful not to land on Skipper. He was pretty bad. His flippers and left foot were casted and stomach were thickly bandaged. He looked as if he was having a bad dream, tossing his head from side to side.

"Skipper?" I asked.

Suddenly, his eyes flew open. He looked up and saw me.

"Marlene!" he tried to say, but it only came out as a whisper. "You're-you're alive!" he smiled at me.

"Yeah...Because you saved me...re-remember? Thank you, Skipper! Though, you shouldn't have..."

"Marlene, I needed to save you. That truck would've killed you on the spot. And anyways, I'm fine!" he tried sitting up, but he winced, letting out a yelp, and passed out again. At first, I wasn't sure he was alive, but slow and steady beeps from his heart moitor eased my worries. I strocked his broken flipper.

"Oh, Skipper...I'm so sorry..."

*Skipper's POV*

I was back in Times Square with Marlene. As if what happened moments ago didn't exist. Yet. Everything happened the same way only this time, my body wouldn't move to push her out of the truck's path. I tried, but my body wouldn't budge. The truck came and WHAM! Marlene lay motionless on the streets. Finally, my body moved and I rushed to Marlene's side. She wasn't breathing. I tried CPR. Nothing.

"NOOO!" I cried, buring my face into her fur. I cradled her head. "Marlene, I'm so sorry! I tried my best! I-I love you!"

"Skipper?" I heard her voice call out.

"Marlene?" I called, with some hope. I looked around, but she was no where to be found. Only her voice.

"Marlene!" I shouted happily. Where was she?

Suddenly, my eyes flew open. I saw Marlene looking down at me.

"Marlene!" My voice wouldn't go higher than a whisper. Pain rushed over me. I looked around. Why was I in the hospital? My focus returned to Marlene. "You're-you're alive!" I tried to smile, even though the pain grew.

"Yeah. Because you saved me. Remember?" Suddenly, I did. So I DID push Marlene out of the way. Take that dream world! Marlene looked worried. I remebered being hit by that stupid taco truck. She probaly thought I was going to die. Was I? Maybe. But for Marlene, it's worth it. I tried sitting up, to show her I was fine, but pain shot through me, 10x worse than before, and everything went black.

This time, it was the first day Marlene came to the zoo. I remember it as if it happened five minutes ago.

A crate stood before me and my men."Rico, crow bar!" I ordered. Rico chucked one up and handed it to me. I took it and used it to pry the crate open. When the door came off, I looked in and saw the most beautiful mammal I've ever seen. She was prettier than all the penguins I've met. She was a chestnut otter with hazel-brown eyes. They flew to my own pair and she smiled at me. "Hi! I'm Marlene!"

"Oh nice to meet you, Marlene! I'm Private, that's Kowalski, Rico and Skip-" I shot Private a glare.

"per?" he finished, confused.

"Private! You can't go around spilling our secrets!" I hissed.

"Secrets?" Marlene asked, confused. I knew she was going to be cute and naive just as Manfredi and Johnson were already.

"Where are you from?" I questioned.

"California," she replied.

"Kowalski, do we have any enemies in California or enemies that have connections to California?"

"Negative, Skipper,"

"Good! So this otter is not a spy!" I stated.

"Spy?" she asked.

"Want a tour of the zoo?" I asked her.

"Uhhhh...sure?"

This memory made me smile. On the inside at least. I couldn't tell if I was smiling on the outside. I remembered I told Marlene that I loved her. Did she say she loved back? No...she did thank me for saving her, though. Did she love me back? I hope. When I wake up, should I ask her? Maybe...just maybe...

**Well, thank you for reading! And reviewing! Next chapter will introduce Marlene's new room mate. Honestly, I didn't plan on him even being in this story. I was acualy goinng to have Marlene hack into the computer system and transfer him to Hoboken instead. But I decided to put him in here. **


	5. Kody

*Marlene's POV*

As I walked back to my habitat, I saw Alice heading to there also, holding a crate. I quickly ducked under a shrub. Was that my new room mate? Did he have to come now? This was one of the worst times to come! Not to mention how awkward this is going to be...But after seeing Alice go back to her office, I pulled my self together and decided to greet this new otter.

I'll admit it. He was cute. He had dark brown fur that highlighted his big brown eyes. A few strands of fur covered his eyes a little.

"Um, hi?" I said.

"Oh, hey!" Aw, crud! His voice was adorable also... "I'm Kody! You?"

"Marlene..."

"Marlene...Beautiful name! So, this is our habitat?"

"Yup, pretty much,"

"Cool. Mind giving me a tour of the zoo?"

"Um, sure. I guess..." I took him to the side walk and began showing him around.

"And those are the lemurs, Maurice, Mort, and Julien," I gestured towards the lemurs habitat. They were our second-to-last stop.

"They cool?"

"Um, not really. Well Maurice is, but Julien is a little selfish and annoying and Mort obsesses over Julien's feet. Plus they play music non-stop all night long at full volume,"

"I see,"

And now came the stop I had been dreading.

"Okay next is the penguins," I led him to their habitat, opening the hatch and climbing down the ladder.

"Secret lair. Nice!" Kody took the place in. Rico was glued to a monster truck rally on TV, while Private was in his bunk, cuddling his lunacorn and looking a little sad.

"Kowalski's in his lab?" I asked.

"Yup," Rico replied. He turned away from the TV and towards us. His eyes widened when he saw Kody, then narrowed into a glare. I could tell he knew who Kody was.

"Oh! Hi, Marlene," Private said, looking up. "Oh you got your new room mate!" He climbed down and shook Kody's paw.

" "Ello! I'm Private! That's Rico. And Kowalski's in his lab. Kowalski!" Private called.

"Private! I told you that I'm very busy!" Kowalski appeared in the doorway. "Oh. Hi, Marlene. And um..."

"Kody," Kody answered.

"And _Kody_," Kowalski said his name with a little disgust. I understood now. On the night of the accident, I was talking about my new room mate to Skipper while backing up into the street. And I was too focused on him to pay attention. So Kowalski and Rico don't like Kody because he's the otter Skipper almost got killed over. That made sense, but it was my fault, not his. I should have been paying attention.

"And there's also Skipper...but, um, he's not here..." Private said softly.

"Where is he?" and Kody just had to ask that. I decided to answer that.

"Well, um, last night, me and the penguins were getting snow cones in Times Square. I-I was talking to Skipper, not realizing I was in the middle of the road. A truck came by, but Skipper...h-he pushed me out of the way, but he...he got hit and now he's in the zoo's hospital..."

"Dang. Brave dude for saving you,"

"Yeah..."

"Is it okay if I see him?" that set me back a little. I wanted to say no, I mean, Skipper seeing him may not be the best thing, but eventually they were going to meet. Well, if Skipper makes... NO! I am NOT going to think about that! He's going to live! He has to!

"Umm...I guess..." Kowalski and Rico shot me glares. I gave them a look to say, _I know, but what am I supposed to say?_

We left and made our way to the hospital.

"What's the problem with the two older penguins?" Kody asked.

"Um, it's kinda a long story,"

"I like long stories,"

"Fine! When Skipper and I were talking, I was telling him about, well, how nervous I was to get a new room mate and that's when the truck came..."

"So they think _I'm_ the reason this Skipper-guy is hurt?"

"Pretty much,"

"Oh. So are you, like, good friends with them or something?"

"Yeah. In fact, I'm close to being a member of their team,"

"Team?"

"They do this whole commando thing. Acualy, it's pretty successful. It's saved the zoo and all of humanity on several occasions,"

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. Like this one time an evil dolphin tried to destroy Manhattan with this mutant MP3 player, but the penguins stopped him,"

"Mutant MP3 player?" he let out a chuckle.

"Hey, I thought it sounded ridiculous, also, but then it almost disentigrated me. Well, we're here," I said as we reached the entrance. We snuck in and I showed him to the emergency ward and to Skipper's bed.

"Woah. The truck hit him hard, huh?" Kody said, examining the penguin.

"Yeah..."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I-I don't know..." the tears returned to my eyes. I tried to blink them away, but Kody saw.

"You okay, Marlene?"

"Um, not exactly..."

"Here. Let's go home. You like Spainsih guitar music?" he put his arm around me.

"You can play the Spainsh guitar?"

"Yup!" he took me outside, but then I realized that his arm was still around me. I quickly took it off.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Uh, kinda,"

"Oh. I see. You like Skipper, don't you?"

"Yeah,"

"Oh. Okay, then. I'll lay off,"

*Skipper's POV*

I opened my eyes a crack. Voices coming from the floor brought my attention.

"You can play the Spanish guitar?" Marlene asked another male otter. They were walking towards the door, not noticing that I was awake. Her new room mate! Oh no...

"Yup!" he said. Then I realized something. His arm was around Marlene. So...she doesn't love me...

That otter did steal her heart afterall...

**2 chapters in one day! I was going to wait till tomarrow, but I ****_really_**** wanted to introduce Kody. So...yeah. The plot is thickening. It'll thicken more next chapter. Trust. Me.**


	6. Controlled

Sadness took over me. I just couldn't belive it. Just as I was starting to think she did love me back. I guess she was just being nice because I saved her. Well, as long as she's happy I should be happy. Right? Okay, so let's think positive, like, um... Yeah, I got nothin'. All I kept thinking about was her. Her hazel eyes. Her smile. Her laugh. Her kindness. Her voice. Her chesnut fur. Her naiveness. Her personality. Her. I guess it wasn't mean't to be...And there's plenty of fish in the...Oh, who am I kidding?! I'll never find someone even close to Marlene...

*3rd person POV*

Kody's wristband softly vibrated as he finished playing a song on the guitar. He stoped playing, and without Marlene noticing, he pressed a button on the band, stopping it.

"Um, Marlene?"

"Yeah, Kody?"

"Um, I need to take care of something. Be right back,"

"Oh, okay!"

He quickly ran out of the cave. He looked around, trying to find a good place. His eyes landed on the clock tower. _Perfect!_ he thought and sprinted towards it and climbing to the very top of it. He sat down and pressed another button on the wristband.

"_Master_?" he asked sarcastically.

"Well, good to see you, too!"

"Whatever. What do you want?"

"Just wondering if _my_ plan is working so far. Is it?"

"It was, but Marlene is in love that penguin you purposely ran over,"

"Skipper? I expected that, which is why I created Plan B,"

"Plan B? What Plan B?"

"Let me finish! Instead of wooing the girl, just become close friends with her. And as soon as you get the chance, kill her. Then, stash the body and kidnap the peng-you-ins. They'll be too upset and weak over Marlene's death to fight back. Finally, bring them here so I can finally get my revenge!"

"Master?"

"What do you _want_, Kody?!"

"Please don't make me do this,"

"Oh, Kody. You and I both know that you don't have a choice. Though you are still able to think freely, I reprogramed your brain to do whatever I, and only I, say,"

"I know...Just trying to convince you otherwise,"

The evil dolphin laughed. "Convince _me_? Please! This is the revenge I have been waiting most of my life for! And with the peng-you-ins out of the way, I can get my revenge on the humans as well! It's all too perfect of a plan to just throw away!"

"I know. You said that, like 20 times,"

"Shut up, Kody..."

*Skipper's POV*

I sighed as I saw the doctor enter my room. Great. What could he want now? Hopefully, he's here to get me out of this dump early...

"Okay, fellow. Let's see how you're doing," Did he _have_ to call me "fellow". I slapped him unconcious a few times. If anything, I should be his enemy... He pressed an ice-cold stephescope on my belly. A little too hard. Pain flared up from my rib cage. I groaned and glared at him until he realized what the problem was.

"Oh, sorry! Forgot you have broken ribs..." he stopped pressing so hard.

WHAT KIND OF DOCTOR IS HE?! HOW could he forget that I BROKE MY FREAKIN' RIBS?! If my wings weren't broken as well, he would've been slapped into next week by now.

Then, I saw Private by the door, staring at me. I gestured towards the doctor and gave him a pleading look. He shook his head. I gave him another look. He sighed and then, nodded. He climbed on to my bed and then leaped at the doctor, slapping him unconcious.

"Thank you, Private,"

"You're welcome, Skippah... Are you okay? You seem a bit upset," A bit?

"Yeah, well... Marlene got her room mate,"

"I know. They stopped by us earlier,"

"They're dating, Private..."

"They are?! But they just met!"

"Yeah, but they are,"

"But you love her! And you saved her! Are you sure?"

"I saw them earlier. They were talking about a date they were having. Complete with Spainish guitar music and his arm was wrapped around her... She's in love with him..."

"Oh... That sucks..."

"Sure does, Private. Sure d-does..." Tears sprang to my eyes.

"You want to be alone right now?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, then, Skippah..." he hopped off my bed and left.

**Well, there you have it. Kody is being controlled by Blowhole and Skipper still thinks Marlene is in love with Kody instead of him. Thank you for the reviews! You guys are awesome!**


	7. Gone

*Marlene's POV*

While Kody was doing whatever, I decided to go talk to the guys.

"Hey, guys!" I said as I climbed down the ladder.

"Oh, it's _you_," Kowalski said.

"Listen, I know you're mad I showed Kody Skipper, but what was I supposed to say?"

"Oh, it's not that,"

"It's not?" What was it, then?

"No!" Rico grunted.

"I think you know what were talking about,"

"Seriously, guys? What is it?!"

"I don't know... Why don't you ask your new _boyfriend_?"

"Boyfriend? Skipper and I are dating? YEEEEESSSSSSSSS!"

"Not Skipper, Kody," Private said

"WHAT?! Kody and I are NOT dating! We're just friends!"

"But Skipper told me he saw you guys talking about your date! With Spainish guitar music and everything! And he saw Kody with his arm wrapped around you!"

"Oh, _that_! I was getting upset at the thought of Skipper...well, you know... so Kody wanted to cheer me up with some music. And as soon as I realized his arm was around me, I told him to stop and that I was in love with Skipper,"

"Oh! So this was all a big miss-understanding!"

"Yeah, why would I be in love with him when I'm in love with Skipper?" No lie there.

"Oh this is PERFECT! Wait until I tell Skipper!" Private flew up the ladder. I decided to leave as well, Kody was probaly back and wondering where I was by now...

I walked into my cave, but Kody still wasn't back. So, I decided to get some sleep since it was getting late. I laid down in my bed and turned the lights off, but then I heard foot steps.

"Kody?" I asked, sitting up. A pair of glowing red eyes came into view.

"Kody?!" Okay, this is getting very creepy very fast... Then, I felt something hard ram against my head, and everything went black...

*Private's POV*

I sprinted towards the hospital as fast as my legs could. I made sure no one was around before going into the room Skipper was in.

"SKIPPAH!" I screamed, excited.

"Private? I thought I told you that I-"

"Marlene loves you!"

"But what about Kody and-"

"Marlene was sad because she's afraid you'll, well... And Kody was just trying to comfort her with some music. And Marlene didn't even want him to put his arm around her! She told him to stop as soon as she realized what he was doing.

"So she does love me!" he smiled, but just one of his smirks. A real smile. Something I haven't seen in a long time.

"She sure does, Skippah!"

"Private, do me a favor. Go get Marlene and bring her here,"

"Right away, sir!" I saluted, then ran towards the otter habitat. This is going to be perfect! Marlene and Skipper were going to date for sure! And eventually, they'll get married! I mean, after all they went through, they're sure to! Oh this is just AMAZING!

But when I reached Marlene's place, it was empty.

"Marlene?"


	8. Thus with a kiss

*Skipper's POV*

I just couldn't belive it! After all these years, I finally knew she loved me back! But did she really love me? Was Private just messing with me? Then, again, Private wouldn't do something like that... But I did want her to confirm that what Private said was true, just to be safe. That's one of the reasons I asked Private to bring her here.

After a few more minutes, Private came back, out of breath and without Marlene.

"Private? Where's Marlene?" I asked, worried.

"She's gone, Skippah!"

"Gone?"

"Yeah, I went to her habitat and she wasn't there. Neither was Kody,"

"Oh, no! He finally did it..."

"Who did what?"

"Blowhole. Years ago, he swore to me that he would kill my love,"

"So Kody is working for Blowhole? But I thought Blowhole thought he was Flippy who performed tricks at Coney Island,"

"He probably got his memories back, like I did,"

"Oh, yeah,"

"Anyways, Marlene is out there in the hands of Blowhole. And we need to save her. Now when was the last time you saw her?"

"About ten minutes ago,"

"Okay, but what about Kody?"

"Well, he's ethier a spy or Blowhole is controlling his brain to do this,"

"Makes sense. Okay, I'll be right back," And with that said, he left.

*Private's POV*

I quickly climbed down the ladder, only to find that Rico and Kowalski were in their bunks, sleeping. I didn't want to wake them, but this _was_ an emergency.

"Guys!" I screamed. "WAKE UP!" Kowalski yawned and slowly cliimbed out of his bunk, while Rico just rolled over and covered his head with his pillow.

"What's wrong, Private?" Kowalski asked.

"Marlene's been kidnapped by Blowhole!"

"What?!" Rico asked, now sitting up. Kowalski sighed, clearly annoyed.

"It probably was just a-"

"No it wasn't a dream! You could go to her habitat and see for yourself! I told Skippah and he sent me here to get you guys,"

"Oh. I see. Well, then let's go,"

"Skipper," Kowalski said as we entered his room. "Private told us what happened. Where do you think they are?"

"Knowing Blowhole, by the docks. Easiest and best place to stash a body. And few people would go there at this time," he answered, wincing a little at the word "body".

"Okay, great. When we get there what do we do?"

"No, time for questions, Kowalski! I'll explain the rest on the way there,"

"Way there? But you can't possibly-"

"Can it, solider! My love is out there in distress and I'm the only one who's sure to save her,"

"Skippah, I'm sure we could save Marlene without you," I said, hopeful.

"Oh, really, Private? Name one mission you guys have done successfully without me?"

"Um... there was that time when Kowalski took over while you were doing P.E.L.T."

"True, but remember that the Blue Hen set that up so it would look like he was a good leader,"

"Hey!" Kowalski protested. "Skipper, I'm sorry, but you're in no condition to fight. The accident happened just last night and well..."

"No! I've got to save her! I've got to make sure she's alive! She could be dead by now!"

"I'm sure she's not, but..."

"But nothing. Now get me out of here before it's too late," he started pulling his IVs out with his beak.

"Skippah, no!" I shouted.

"Rico!" Kowalski signaled the psycho bird. Rico hopped up onto Skippah's bed. Skippah stopped what he was doing and looked up, his eyes widened with fear.

"Rico, no!"

"Sowee!" Then, RIco slapped the soft part of his neck, and half a second later, our leader was out cold.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked as Rico hopped off and joined us.

"No, but I couldn't think of anything better, okay?" Kowalski answered. "Now let's go!"

*Marlene's POV*

Ugh... my head hurt... The smell of saltwater filled my nostrils and the surface beneath me was hard and very uncomfterable. I opened my eyes and saw that I was lying on one of the boardwalks in the New York Harbor. Kody was in a fetal position, yars away and was clutching a gun.

"Kody?" I asked, standing up.

"Please, Marlene... Go away..." he said, shaking.

"Kody, what's wrong?"

"Please, Marlene! I can only hold off his control for so long..." He stood up and faced me, backing up a little, His brown eyes were lined with pure fear and grief.

"Who's control?"

"Blowhole's. Now run! Please!"

"What? But I thought the guys erased his memory,"

"Well,he got it back and..." then he went silent. His right eye twitched before both of his eyes dilated and turned bright red.

"K-Kody?" This wasn't going to end well, was it?

"WHY COULDN'T YOU LISTEN?! I TOLD YOU TO RUN WHILE YOU HAD THE CHANCE!" He screamed and pointed the gun at me. Nope. This wasn't going to end well at all.

Suddenly, a flash of black and white flew down and tackled Kody, making him drop the gun.

"Skipper?" He had on one of their homemade jetpacks and tried to hold him down, despite his injuries.

"SKIPPER?!" three voices said behind me. I turned around to see the rest of the team yards behind us, clearly surprised Skipper was here, but why? Didn't they know he was here? They sprinted towards us.

"Don't ask questions. Rico, Private. Tie up Kody. Kowalski, you hold him down. In the meantime, I'll make sure my lady is okay," Skipper ordered, winking at me. The three penguins did as they were told. And Skipper let go of Kody and crawled towards me.

"You okay?" he asked me."He didn't hurt you did he?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. He did whack my head with a frying pan, but other than that, I'm good,"

"Oh, thank God!"

"The question is, are you okay? I mean, tackling Kody had to hurt," I said, glancing at his bandaged rib cage. "Not to mention your out of the hospital and off the equipment keeping you alive,"

"Marlene, I'm fine. Saving you is worth every last heart beat I have left in my life," I first I was buying it, but something in his eyes told me otherwise.

"Skippah, how did you get the jet pack?" Private asked. They were done with Kody, though Rico sttod by him, holding a bat.

"The lemurs helped me," Skipper answered.

"You asked the lemurs?"

"Desperate measures call for desperate times, Private," Skipper winced.

"Um, isn't it the other way around?"

"Huh?" something definitely was wrong.

"Skipper, are you okay?" Kowalski asked.

"I told you I'm fine!"

"No, you told Marlene that,"

"Oh," he winced again.

"We need to get you back immediately, Skipper. You can only be conscious or alive for so long without the medicine,"

"I told you I'm fine! Just let me stay with Marlene..." He smiled at me. I only managed a half-smile. "So was Private telling the truth? Do you love me?"

"Yes! Of course I do, Skipper! I always have!"

His smile grew wider and he leaned in and kissed me. Everything was perfect. I closed my eyes and we weren't on the boardwalk, but floating together on cloud nine, not a single care in the world. This was the moment I have waited years for. And here it was, happening. I didn't care the others were right next to us, probably staring. It didn't matter.

But then, Skipper pulled away. I opened my eyes and say that he was now lying on the boardwalk, breathing heavily, like he was desperate for air.

"Oh my gosh, Skipper! Are you okay?" He didn't reply, but a look of fear and pain came to his eyes. Immediately, the other three penguins rushed to his side as well. Kowalski started checking him over, pressing his earhole to Skipper's chest.

"Kowalski, what's wrong?" Private asked, worried for his leader.

"Well, the medication the IVs provided him helped stabilize his damaged organs until they fully healed. Without it, his organs will eventually stop working properly,"

"What will happen to him?" Right after Private asked, Skipper fell unconscious.

"For starters, _that_,"

**Well, this took shorter than I thought. Yay! Listening to music from the Aviators helped. Look them up on youtube. They're AWESOME! So Skipper and Marlene finally kissed! YAAAAY! Hope that makes up for the cliffhanger. But the next cliffhanger is alot worse, so...review pwetty pwease?**


	9. Beeps

**Sorry for the wait! And shortness! I wanted to get it out sooner, but eh... Anyways, the next chapter shall hopefully be up (*dramatic pause*) TOMARROW! Because the cliffhanger in this one is all too evil. **

I sat in by Skipper's side, back at the zoo and in the animal hospital. We manged to get him back alive. Though Kowalski said he wasn't sure we were soon enough. He did say that Skipper was right. If he hadn't came and tackled Kody, Kody would've pulled the trigger before the others could stop him. The three penguins left moments ago. They wanted to at least try to get some sleep. Kowalski also said that he was going to try to invent something to give Kody his free will back. I still stayed here to watch over Skipper. If these were his last hours, I was going to be sure I was with him. And he was a little better. Well, his breathing wasn't as heavy, so that's got to count for something, right?

I still thought it was all my fault. I mean, I really should've been looking where I was going. And I shoudn't have trusted Kody. I know it wasn't his choice to be under Blowhole's control, but still... It seemed like every time the heart monitor beeped, my guilt grew. He saved me twice in 24 hours. And now his life is in perile because of my naiveness once again. He didn't deserve this. He should've just let me get killed. It's what I deserve, afterall.

I looked at Skipper. He looked worse than he did when I first saw him this morning. But his face, for some reason, looked as if he was content. He wasn't smiling, but he just seemed satisfied. Like the fact that he was close to death didn't even matter. And for some reason, that made me smile. I stroked one of his broken flippers.

_Oh, Skipper_,I thought. _You really do love me, huh? You didn't have to save me and you shouldn't have, but thank you. Kowalski said that you were right and they wouldn't have made it to Kody and me in time. He also said you seemed to know this could happen. And I would do the same thing for you, if I ever get the chance. I wish I knew how to save you right now, but unforchantly, I'm no doctor. I really wish I was one now, because I do love you. And I would do almost anything to hear your voice say my name or see those saphire eyes sparkle again. I hope you know that. Maybe you do. Maybe that's why you seem so content right now. And hopefully, everything will turn out fine. And in a month, you'll be out of this place and we'll be together. _

My smile grew at that last thought. I inched closer and kissed Skipper's cheek. Maybe I should get some sleep as well. I knew he probably would be gone by the time I woke up, but honestly, I didn't want to see him die. I just wanted this feeling of warmth, love, and hope to last forever, or at least the night. So, I drifter off to the slow, yet steady beeps from his heart monitor

_beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beeee-_

**And scene. Yeah, not my best work... I know. :/ Next chapter will be better, I hope... XD And thank ya'll for reviewing/reading. It means alot! :)**


	10. Heaven

**Ello, everyone! Sorry this is a day late. I finished most of the chapter yesterday, but I realized it was terribly written, so I rewrote it all this morning. Note: it might get a little sad, but whatever you do, read the entire thing. Oh and sorry it's a little short.**

*3rd Person*

The penguin stood puzzled as he stared at the large, golden gates in front of him. They were the center of an even larger, golden fence, stretching for who knows how long. The only thing he could see beyond the fence, was a large, grassy hill decorated with bright, colorful thing was that he was fully healed. All the pain he had felt from the accident was gone and replaced by a feeling of comfort and warmth. He wasn't able to see beyond the hill, but he knew, deep down, what was behind it. It's not that he didn't want to go there. He knew he would have to come here eventually. But he still had an otter back at the zoo who needed him to protect and love her. So, he kept denying and telling himself it was just a dream and any second he would wake up, back in the zoo's hospital. Everything would be fine and in a few months, he would be good as new and he and Marlene would be reunited, forever hopefully. Maybe they would even get married. And all he had to do was wake up. Determined, the penguin started slapping himself as hard as could to wake himself up, but it had no effect. So, he just kept it up, unaware that three penguins (2 male, one female) were walking down the hill and towards the gates.

"Skipper! Stop it!" the female penguin shouted, opening the gates and walking towards him. Skipper turned around, and as soon as he saw them, he knew that this wasn't a dream. So, he started crying as his mother embraced him, knowing he probably would never see his love again.

"Skipper, are you okay?" one of the male penguins, Johnson, asked. "I mean, the only time I saw you like this was when Manfredi and I were dying," Johnson's face fell as he mentioned Manfredi, remembering where he was. Skipper let go of his mom, facing Johnson.

"It's just I'll never see her again..." he whispered.

"Who? Ooh, you're talking about that otter you saved from that truck and some other otter-guy trying to kill her," Johnson's words suprised Skipper. How did he know about Marlene? Was he stalikng him from Heaven?

"How did you find out about her?" Skipper questioned, starting to feel creeped out.

"We were all told what happened, so we could visit you before you left," his father, the third penguin, answered.

"Who told you?"

"I did," a voice boomed over them. Immediately, Skipper knew who it belonged to.

"God?"

"Yes, Skipper. I thought you might want to see them one more time, while you're here,"

"What do you mean, 'while you're here'? Aren't I going to be here forever? Aren't I dead?"

"No and not completely. It's one of those things where you're heart stops beating for half and hour, but it'll eventually start back up. You see, you're not done on earth, yet. Marlene still needs you, not so much for you're protection, but you're love. Not mention your team still needs you,"

"Oh, well, thank You, Lord!" Then, the leader penguin turned back to his family and fallen comarade.

"I guess, this is goodbye?"

'We'll miss you, sweetheart," his mom said, hugging him again. The other two penguins decided to join in the hug, telling Skipper their goodbyes.

"I'll miss you guys, too..." Skipper said as they released him.

"Ready to go?" God asked.

"Ready to go,"

"Tell Private I said hi!" Johnson said.

"Will do!" then, black spots started clogging his vison as Paradise slowly faded away.

Skipper woke up to the sound of Marlene's snoring and his heart monitor, beeping more steadily. He smiled when he saw that Marlene was asleep, next to him and had her paw clinging on to one of his broken flippers. He scooched closer to her and tried his best to put his free flipper around her. Then, feeling safe and happy, he quickly drifted off as well.

As he did, something in Marlene's mind told her to wake up. She did so, opening an eye cautiously, looking around. Two things caught her attention. One, the heart monitor's beeps were more steady and fast. And two, a casted flipper was on top of her. She turned around and saw that Skipper was next to her, asleep instead of unconcious or dead. She could tell by his light snoring. She smiled, wrapping her arm around the injured penguin, berfore falling back asleep. Knowing that everything would okay, now.

**Aaaand scene. And yes, everything is okay. Skipper's not going to almost die anymore, in this story. YAY! But the story is not over. I still have at least 3-4 chapters left in this story. The next one will be about the size of this chapter. The one after that is going to be long. And the final scene might be a little short, but oh well... AND I'm pretty sure I will write a sequel. Only problem is, I have no nummy idea on what it is going to be about. Ideas, maybe? And pwease review?**

** watch?v=6ZXLWEfbdNc CLICK ON IT AND YOU'LL GET THE REST OF THIS OF THIS A.N.**

**Me: Please, review?**

**Random reader: No, K!**

**Me: Pretty please?**

**Random reader: WHAT THE?!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PoM, the characters (except Kody and Skipper's parents), or Chowder.**


	11. Home

**Hello everyone. Sorry this took awhile to get out. And this, once again, is a little short, but it is longer than the last one. **

Skipper didn't know what to excpect as Alice carried him back to his habitat. The past 4 weeks had been amazing. Marlene saw Skipper every chance she could. They would talk and laugh and do things cute couples do in movies (PG of course ). Skipper truly felt like he was the happiest penguin on earth with Marlene. The other three penguins, with the help of the chimps, transferred Kody back to his old aquarium in Tennesee. Kowalski had managed to give Kody his free will back, but they didn't want to take any chances.

Skipper was happy he was going back home, but it had been a month since he was in their HQ. Almost anything could've happened. Rico could've gotten the courage to propose to his doll. Kowalski could've discovered new elements on the periodic table. Private could've even painted the entire HQ hot pink. They had kept him updated when they visited him when he was awake (he slept a good 18 hours a day), but they could've been hiding something from him. Maybe it was just his paranoia kicking in... His left flipper and ribs were still broken and bandaged, but he was feeling a heck alot better. Only problem was, he was off the pain meds the doc had given him and since the doctor had no idea that the rescue mission for Marlene happened, his injuries ached like everything. Not that he cared. Marlene knew today was the day and she promised she would come over as soon as Alice was out of sight. And Skipper was definately looking foward to that.

Alice gently placed him down on the concrete island, where Kowalski, Rico, and Private were waiting.

"Uh, hi?" he said as Alice left. Private immediately ran towards him and hugged him genlty.

"Skippah! Welcome back!" he said. Kowalski and Rico both saluted their leader, leaving Skipper puzzled.

"Guys, I'm just coming home, no big deal,"

"But it is!" Private replied, letting go of him.

"After you saved Marlene again, we weren't sure you ever would return,"

"Oh, I see. Well, that's in the past now. So, did I miss anything?"

"Not really, but-" Kowalski was cut of as a female voice rang in their ears.

"SKIPPER!" Marlene said, entering their habitat.

"Well, hello there, Marlene!" Skipper said, turning around as the otter brought him into a hug. She kissed him on the tip of

his beak and hugged him more tightly. Skipper winced as the pain flared, but tried hiding it, though his lover saw.

"You okay, Skippito?" she loosened her grip.

"I'm fine,"

"No, you're not. Tell me, how bad are you?"

"Marlene, I'm okay," Marlene, gave him a look and stared him down until he cracked.

"Okay, fine. You win. But it ain't going to make things better. My belly and ribs hurt a little. Okay?"

"Thanks, but it sounds worse than a little. Your coming home with me, mister. I know what will make you feel better,"

"Marlene, it's fi-"

"No, it's not fine. You saved my life. Twice. I owe you at least this much,

"Skipper, she's right," Kowalski interruptered. "The doctor didn't know about what happened that night Kody took Marlene. Though it was necessary for you to do what you did, your injuries worsened. And because you're off the pain meds, you'll be in alot of pain the next week or two. So just try to take it easy, okay?"

"I know... But what about you guys?" Skipper asked his team.

"We'll be fine. We've been fine the past month," Private answered.

"Yeah,"

"Oh, fine. Marlene you win again,"

So, Marlene carried Skipper back to her place. Skipper almost immediately fell asleep and while he was sleeping, Marlene fixed him something she learned back at her aquarium in California. She spooned some into his beak and immediately the dreaming penguin felt alot of the aching pain fade away.

Marlene smiled as she watched Skipper sleep. For once, everything was surely okay. No more lives in perile. No more dramatic twists in their life. For now, at least. The home sickness she felt ever since she got here was completely gone. She knew something. And Skipper knew it, too. They were home.

**Meh. Sorry it's a little cheesy, but I saw this Skilene fan art of Marlene taking care of an injured Skipper. It was too sweet not to put into a chapter. Also, some of this was inspired by another song by the Aviators, called Home, thus the chapter name. The story behind the song doesn't completely fit, but the music does. Anyways, the next chapter is the final chapter. And after that, SEQUEL! Well, idk... Probably. Tell me what ya'll think. :) And thanks again for the wonderful reviews! You guys rock! :)**


	12. Some Nights

**Hey everyone! Do yourself a favor and open up a new tab and play this while reading this chapter:**

** watch?v=m1eFqbwbet8. or /9xbtju3 if FF won't let me post the first link.**

You know that moment? When everthing feels perfect, invincible, purely amazing, and unbreakable? That's what the couple felt as they watched the beautiful sun set over the city from the clock tower. It was a week since Skipper had been home, and since he was feeling truly okay now, Marlene agreed to watch the sunset with him. It was perfect. As if God himself had made the sunset extra beautiful for these two tonight.

"So?" Marlene asked, breaking the silence. "When did you start loving me?"

"When you said, 'Hi! My name is Marlene!'. I don't know... Something clicked. My gut told me that you were the one. At first, I wasn't so sure. I mean, a pretty otter like yourself loving a commando penguin like me? It didn't seem possible. But now, I know it is,"

"I know, too,"

Skipper wrapped his good flipper around Marlene and they gazed into each others eyes for awhile, not saying a word. Then, something caught Skipper's eye. A shooting star. He was suprised, since New Yorkers rarely see stars, and the sun hadn't completely set yet. But there it was. Marlene saw it, too.

"Make a wish," she said.

"Don't need to," he replied, then pressed his beak against her lips. After that, they countined to watch the sun, until night slowly came and Marlene fell asleep, leaning against Skipper. The penguin chuckled, and since he couldn't carry her at the moment, he fell asleep, too.

"Love you, Marlene," he whispered as he nestled his head against hers.

But what he didn't now, was that they were being watched. By someone (possibly someones) who was/were dangerously jealous. And craving revenge. No, this someone was not Blowhole, nor Hans. But he wanted payback. And he was going to stop at nothing to get it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
**And that concludes this story! I know it's short, but it's more of an epilogue than an actual chapter. But this isn't completely the end. There WILL be a sequel! And while I'm working on it, I have a little suprise for you guys! It should be up within the next 2 weeks. Oh and the sequel is entitled "Some Nights" and yes, after the song by Fun. No, it's not exactly a song fic. It's very lightly based off of the song, but that's about it. **

**Also, I'm having you guys pick the traitor. There are two of them, one I've already chosen. I'm not sure who to pick for the other one, so I'm going to let you chose. Here are the rules:**

**1)He or she can not be Private, Kody, Mort, or Skipper.**

**2)He or she has to be a main-ish character. **

**And THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHAN KYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU to everyone who has been reading the story, reviewing, following, favoriting, etc. YOU GUYS ARE SO FREAKIN' AWESOME! :D **

**-K. **


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